Pin for pianos



(No ModeL) G. B. ROGERS.

TUNING PIN FOR PIANOS. No. 331,825. Patented Dec. 8', 1885* Figi UNITED STATES PATENT OEETCE.

CHARLES E. ROGERS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE M. GUILD, OF SAME PLACE.

TUNING-PIN FOR PIANOS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 331,825, dated Decem er 8, 1885.

Application tiled January 2S, 1855. Serial No. 154,225. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLEs E. ROGERS, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Stringing and Tuning Devices for Pianos, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relates to stringing and tuning 1o devices for pianos; and it consists in the coinbination ofaiixed pin set in or formed upon the metal plate or drivenin thewooden-pin block, so as to be practically immovable therein,and a tuning-pin having one end made square or I5 prismatic in cross section and its other end made in the form of a hollow cylinder adapted to fit closely upon said Xed pin, said hollow cylindrical portion being divided into two or more parts by radial slots cut through the zo walls of said tubular portion and extending longitudinally thereof, as will be more fully described.

Figure l of the drawings is a side elevation of my improved Stringing and tuning device. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation, the cutting-plane being through the axis of the tuning-pin. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the tuning-pin detached. Fig. 4t is an inverted plan of said tuning-pin, and Fig. 5 is an 3o inverted plan of a modied form of the tuning-pin in which the tubular portion is divided longitudinally into only two parts instead of four.

In the drawings, A represents the iron 55 frame or pin-block, as the case may be, in which is set in a fixed position the pin a. Bis the tuning-pin, made of steel and having its upper portion made square or prismatic in cross-section, and its lower portion 4o in the form of a hollow cylinder by drilling therein the chamber b, the wall of which is divided by the longitudinal slots c 0 into two or more parts or segments, as shown in Figs. l, 3, 4, and 5. rlhe chamber b is made to fit closely the pin a, and has wound thereon one end of the string C, its end being first passed through the slots c c, as shown in Fig. l. The opposite end of the string C is secured to the hitch-pin D, and said string is supported upon the bridges d and e in awell- 5o known manner.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The string C being made fast to the hitchpin D and drawn over the bridges d and c, its other end is inserted through a slot, c, and the pin B is turned so as to wind the string upon the cylindrical portion thereof from the upp'er ends of the slots c downward until the slack is all taken up and the string brought to the desired tension or pitch. The f5@ strain ol" the string upon the pin B causes the segments of the tube surrounding the pin a to spring inward, so as to nip said pin c more firmly the greater the tension that is applied to said string, thus iirinly holding the string up to the desired tension by the increased friction caused between t-he surface of the pin a and the inner periphery of the tubular portion of the tuning-pin. rlhe pin a, not being designed to be moved in its 7o bearing after it is once set, may be made very rigid, even when set in the old style woodenpin block, so that very little trouble will be experienced from the yielding of the pin and the consequent lowering of the pitch of the string, which is quite aserious difficulty when the string is wound directly upon a pin set in the plate or pin-block, and which must be revolved in its bearing in said plate or block to tune the string. 8O

The pin c may be cast in one piece with the iron frame, if desired, and be milled off to the desired diameter to form a good bearing tit for the tuning-pin B; or the pins a may be so cast and finished upon a malleable-iron plate, which may be screwed to the woodenpin block or frame.

That I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States, is-

A tuning-pin made tubular at one end and 9o slotted longitudinally through said tubular portion, in combination with a Vfixed or nonmovable pin, upon which said tubular pin is mounted, and about which it may be revolved, and a piano-string having one end inserted through one of the slots and wound upon the slotted tubular portion of said firstto this specification, in the presence of two mentioned pin, whereby the tension of said subscribing witnesses,on this 20th day of Janustring contracts said slotted tubular portion 1 ary, A. D. 1885.

0f said pin, and thus increases the friction of 5 said tubular' pin upon the fixed pin, substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony Whereofhavesigned my name CHARLES E. ROGERS.

Witnesses:

WALTER E. LOMBARD, WILLIAM H. PARRY. 

